Rewards and Answers

I jumped from the platform that had appeared below me, the ice melting almost as quickly as it had appeared.

I looked over and saw the collapsing form of Estell, her form falling to the ground.

I was thankful, not only that she was safe but also because of the help that she had given me.

It was only with her platforms that I had been able to approach the Mask.

Even just being near it burned me but that did not deter my attempts.

I didn't have fire resistance for nothing. Even if it burned, even if it scarred it would not kill me.

Not with this intensity.

I found myself smiling, a feeling from my sword echoing my own.

It wanted the blood of this creature. It wanted to be used.

I took a deep breath and followed its wishes. The sword, no promised future, lit up with the mana taken from me.

The glow a soft blue as it repelled the flames that attempted to burn me.

As I was falling from my latest jump I slashed down.

A tide of mana, intensified by my sword condensed into one giant slash.

I could feel the blade crying out to me in pain. I wanted nothing more than to just relieve it. To let it rest.

But it would not let me. It had resolved itself and would see it through.

All I could do was give it what it wanted. A worthy death, taking out something that it would never have been able to touch.

The mana washed over the Mask, consuming it. It tried to scream and dodge, do anything to deflect it but it was useless.

The chains of fate had sowed its end.

…

[Wow…]

I woke to the sight of the same room that I had been entered into.

I couldn't help but take notice of the sword in my hand. It was broken, chipped to pieces. Barely anything was left of it.

It felt dead, as if anything I did would not revive it.

I felt a tear fall from my cheek. Like I had lost some precious friend, and I had. It was a sword that had faithfully followed me, one that I had created with my own hands.

And it had broken, overexerted itself all so that I could defeat that monstrous being.

I sighed as I sheathed it at my side. I would give it a proper burial.

Yet before I could even move to do that it seemed to crack and crack once more before turning to dust.

I tried to catch the particles but it slipped between my fingers.

It was only then, while I was looking for the remains of my sword that I noticed my surroundings and who was in it.

I saw tens of people, not a lot but there were a couple. Each of them were sporting various injuries and most prominently burns.

It was only then that I remembered who I had left. Estell. She was injured, was she ok?

Frantically I looked around the room until I found her, her ears twitching in her sleep. She was unconscious as all the others were but relatively unharmed.

I picked her up from the ground and stroked her ears for a moment before sitting her on my lap and soothing her.

I gave her my thanks, whispering softly before my attention found its way to the proctor, the creature that gave this trial.

[You know. Usually I would punish someone for so blatantly ignoring me but you. You were able to do something that others could not. An amazing achievement.]

He snapped his fingers, a screen appearing in front of me.

[You have accomplished an unseen achievement]

[Your mana has increased by 1.5]

[You have gained an advantage in the next stage]

[You can receive a rank 1 item of your choice]

[Mihr Masamune]

Vitality: 2

Strength: 2

Dexterity: 2.6

Mana: 7

[Skills]

[Memoria(rank 1) (13.73%) Allows the user to remember] [Swordsmanship rank 1 (5.96%)]

[Mana Manipulation (rank 1 13.31%)] [Fire Resistance rank 1 (24.99%)]

[current pts:10350]

…

I looked at my current status and found myself wondering about something. My mana had increased significantly but it felt as if I was losing control of it. Like just because I had gained some mana my control over it had lessened.

Even if my mana manipulation had increased in skill level. And for that matter why was my fire resistance stuck at 24.99 it felt like it should have gone past that by now with how much I had been exposed to fire.

"Hey! You, can I exchange one of my boons for a couple questions?"

He thought for a moment before responding.

[Hm… It's a bit unorthodox but I will answer accordingly, if you need to exchange I will tell you]

"Good," I say before composing myself, I had expected to have to give up my item in favor of some burning questions that I had.

"First of all, the stats. They seem to be rising very slowly. Is there a reason for that? Or for that matter, is there a cap?"

[Ah, that. You won't need anything for that as it is quite common knowledge. Your stats are right now what we like to call the colorless, after you reach ten in one stat you can use a red rune to upgrade it to a red stat which has a cap of 15 and so on. And stats that have evolved to the next color are much more powerful, take for example mana. Lets say that you have a value of 10 mana at a colorless stat of ten, then with a red stat of one you would have a mana value of 100. Does that answer your question]

I nod. "Yeah that does."

"Then for my last question, about my skills, why do I feel a roadblock around 24.99 percent. Is that some sort of barrier?"

[Ah, that one's pretty easy, there is a roadblock around there and for each twenty five after that but it just needs to be trained hard. If that's all of your questions then I can send you on your way.]

Again I nod before carefully placing Estell down and gesturing for him to do such.